


What Lies Ahead is Unchanging

by Pizzacutter



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Character Death, F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M, Not Really Character Death, Pre-Slash, Slow Burn, Sorry Not Sorry, Time Travel, like super slow, probably not any actual slash at all actually
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-03
Updated: 2020-10-08
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:27:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,588
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26784385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pizzacutter/pseuds/Pizzacutter
Summary: Draco Malfoy has had to deal with a lot. He’s had to serve detention in the forbidden forest. He almost lost his arm to a beastly hippogriff. He’s been tasked with killing one of the most powerful wizards ever. He’s had the Dark Lord himself living in his house for over a year. But nothing could prepare him for this.Draco Malfoy closes his eyes one last time and dies. Some indescribable amount of time later, he opens his eyes and lives... as Neville Longbottom.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter
Comments: 9
Kudos: 25





	1. Prologue

Draco Malfoy was running. The halls were clear and the sounds of fighting came muffled and almost grew silent as he sprinted away. The majority of combatants from The Battle of Hogwarts were collected in the Great Hall or at least close to it. He was alone, breathing hard but not stopping- couldn’t even think of stopping-

“Confringo!” The fiery orange curse came flying towards him and crashed into a suit of armor he had just ran passed. The sound exploded around him and the heat licked at the back of his neck, reminding Draco uncomfortably of another time not so long ago when the heat of flames licked at his skin. 

Crabbe… Draco shook his head and he tried to run faster to escape his pursuer. He had no time to think of his fallen friend, lest he end up just like him. Dead. 

He sprinted sharply around a corner and almost ran straight into the wall in front of him. This wasn’t right; this should’ve lead down further into the dungeons, not into a dead end. He must’ve taken a wrong turn somewhere in his haste. 

“You’ll pay for your betrayal, traitor!” Shouted Rodolphus Lestrange. “Avada Kedavra!”

Draco had nowhere to go. He only had time to turn away from the streak of green light coming for his life. His body tensed up and as the curse struck him on the back, he blinked rapidly in disbelief. 

Had that really happened? Had his uncle really cast the killing curse at him? 

He felt his strength leave as his body crumbled to the stone floor beneath him. This was the end; Draco Malfoy had truly been killed during The Final Battle by someone who was supposed to be his family. His last breath left him and his eyes slipped shut.

Everything was quiet. And then, Draco Malfoy opened his eyes.


	2. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Draco is very... confused.

Draco Malfoy opened his eyes and immediately wished he hadn’t.

_What kind of nightmare was this supposed to be?_

Great globs of drool dripping down, three sets of surprised eyes rolling in their sockets, a thunderous growl vibrating throughout the entire room. He reached behind himself blindly, looking for the door knob so he could try to escape this terrible dream. His fist closed onto fabric, the sleeve of someone’s robe, and he yanked on it hurriedly. He couldn’t seem to take his eyes off of the beast snarling just a short distance in front of him. 

“Let go, Neville!” came Harry Potter’s aggravated voice, a tone Draco knew very well, “What?!”

_Potter’s voice? I’m in a nightmare with Potter, figures._

The sleeve he was gripping pulled tight as Potter turned around to face the monster dog, just as it’s rumbling growl became louder. Potter froze in terror at the sight of it, but in Potter-like fashion, he quickly surged into action.

Potter started shuffling around for the door knob in panic. They fell backwards as the door flew open, crashing into the wall behind it with the force of the four children’s fear. Potter hurriedly grabbed the door again and slammed it shut. The chaotic sprint away from the third floor corridor was a blur to Draco. All he knew was the frantic rabbit thump beating of his own heart and the sounds of eight feet clumsily running across stone floors. He followed the other three- Granger, with her bushy, out of control hair- Weasley, threadbare robes two inches too high over his shoes- and Potter, small and fast scurrying away- away-

After what seemed like hours, they ended up on the seventh floor and in front of a portrait of a very large woman in a pink dress. The portrait asked the four of them a question, but Draco was too busy trying to calm his racing heart to hear it.

“Pig snout,” panted Potter and then the portrait swung open. Draco blinked in astonishment at the passageway that led into what appeared to be Gryffindor Tower. Several red armchairs sat haphazardly throughout the circular room, the focal point being an enormous fireplace with a portrait of a lion sat over it. As Draco’s heartbeat slowed, his brow furrowed in confusion. His feet automatically took him to the left towards a winding staircase. As he started to ascend he heard Granger’s shrill voice break the silence of the common room.

“You don’t use your eyes, either of you, do you?” Granger snapped but her voice faded as Draco climbed the steps, and finally after climbing past several landings all he could hear was the beating of his heart again. It gradually slowed back to normal but his fingers had started to tingle. _What just happened? What the hell is happening to me?_

Draco’s legs started to tremble as he reached the last landing and the door to the first year dorms. His whole body felt like he’d been trampled by a hippogriff. He closed his eyes and suddenly he was on the floor looking up at a pale and strangely _young_ Neville Longbottom. 

Neville jerked to one side and looked around himself in confusion. He blinked three times in quick succession, and squinted at the place Draco was lying on the ground. Then he shook his head, opened the door in front of him, and disappeared inside.

Draco’s mouth had forgotten how to stay closed, it seemed. Pushing himself up, and closing his mouth with a snap, he staggered to his feet. _Where had Longbottom even come from?_

He reached forward to push the door open to ask Longbottom what the hell was going on, and saw something gray and glittering out of the corner of his eye. He pushed at the door, only to fall forward- _how?-_ and end up sprawled on his front, his hands catching the weight of his body and saving his face from the floor.

A shuffling noise drew Draco’s attention. Longbottom was pulling his red, velvet curtains away from his bed. Draco wrinkled his nose in disgust. _Why does everything have to be red in this tower?_

Longbottom didn’t look over at him once, even though falling to the ground should’ve made enough noise to alert the whole dormitory. Draco cleared his throat. Longbottom ignored him and tucked himself into the four-poster bed. Draco’s eyebrows drew down as he scowled.

He shoved himself up again angrily to go and demand some answers from Longbottom but saw that his hands and arms were almost translucent. Draco looked down at his body and that too was grayish and almost sparkling in the dark dorm around him. _A ghost? Am I…_ His head whipped backwards towards the door. The closed door mocked him. _Did I go… through?_

Draco and his ghostly form stood up and stepped to the door again. This time as he reached out, Draco watched as his hands passed straight through the solid wood. He yanked his hands back, watching as they came back through the door, pale and whole. He hadn’t felt a thing.

He closed his eyes and walked forward a few steps, and when he opened his eyes he was on the landing in the stairway once again.

Steps sounded below him as someone was coming up the stairs towards him. Draco looked around for a place to hide but found nowhere to go and then it was too late. A frighteningly young looking Potter and Weasley rounded the stairway and without a surprised glance in his direction, opened the dorm door and slipped inside.

_Am I invisible?_

_What is happening?_

“Okay,” Draco whispered to himself, even though there was no one around to hear him. “Okay,” He repeated. “Let’s think this through; there has to be some sort of explanation for this.”

Suddenly the memories came back to him. Heat and flames and screaming and Crabbe. _Crabbe._ Potter and flying. Potter and _dying_. The Dark Lord beckoning Draco forward. The Dark Lord _hugging_ Draco. His parents standing beside him. Harry Potter, _alive_. Yelling, tossing his wand at the only thing that made sense. And then running, running for his life. Fire and his lungs protesting from how hard he was breathing. Anger and flashes of green light and-

His uncle had chased him down after he’d betrayed the Dark Lord and helped Harry Potter. Rodolphus had chased him down and thrown the killing curse at him and... and? _And what?_

_Now he’s dead? And had possibly what? Possessed Neville Longbottom? Longbottom of all people, honestly. And why do they all looked so young? I look normal._

Draco looked down at his ghostly body again.

_Okay, mostly normal. Normal aged at least._

And he did. Draco’s near transparent form appeared to be the same age as when he… died? These Gryffindors seemed to be in their earlier years at Hogwarts. _And judging by the color of Potter’s trainers, they’re either first or second years._ Why in the bloody hell would he die and hallucinate the Golden Trio plus one as first years?

Because this had to be a hallucination. There was no other explanation for why a very young Harry Potter would be in a room with a bloody Cerberus of all creatures…

Draco smacked his head into the wall next to him. _Of course Harry bloody Potter would find the only room in this castle with a Cerberus inside of it. Obviously if anyone would be in a dangerous situation, it’d be attention seeking Potter. But if this really happened when Potter was young…_

“Why the hell is my ghost self _here_ of all places??”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so little note here. I’m throwing a little book canon and a little movie canon in here together. The deleted scene of Draco Malfoy throwing his wand to Harry in the final battle from the last movie is canon in my brain. But I really want to stick pretty close to the books for most of the storyline. I don’t want to get in trouble for copyright stuff or anything like that. So I may change some of the conversation language a bit. Just an FYI. 
> 
> Also I know in the books, Neville stays in the common room with the trio while Hermione yells at Harry and Ron… but I changed it. Sorry, not sorry. :)


End file.
